Timbuktu and the Mobility of the Book in West Africa (and Beyond) - Prof Shamil Jeppie

Recorded June 21, 2019. A lecture by Prof Shamil Jeppie (University
of Cape Town) as part of the 'Out of the Ashes' lecture series. In
the political crisis in northern Mali in late 2012 through to early
2013 Timbuktu was occupied by rebels who more-or-less ran the town
for a number of months until French-led forces compelled their
withdrawal. It was reported that during their last days the
insurgents destroyed thousands of manuscripts from the town’s main
archive-library. This act of vandalism drew a huge outcry of
revulsion and condemnation. However, the extent of the damage and
destruction was exaggerated; or, at least, we are uncertain of the
extent of the loss of manuscripts. Furthermore, a number of family
collections with thousands of items in hundreds of metal crates had
been moved unnoticed from the town to the capital, Bamako, some 800
km away. A large part of an historic town’s archive had been
relocated piece-meal over a number of weeks; sent by donkey-cart to
river-boats on the Niger River and then by local taxis on the
narrow national road under cover of night or other camouflage. The
crisis and the apparently secret transfer of the manuscripts have
been sensationally covered in the media and recent journalistic
works. But it led me to think of the longer-term history of the
movement of books in the region (from at least the 1400s) which,
after all is part of an ecological zone that has a long history of
nomadism. It also led me to reflect on other examples of book
destruction, other examples of the transplant of books under
various types of stressful conditions; whether due to war or
natural disasters. The events and narratives around Timbuktu were
thus a useful way to begin to think of a not unfamiliar case of
mobility in relation to books and archives, although it appears it
is or has seldom provided an opportunity for reflection. This
brings to mind March Bloch’s words to the effect that “for the
historian there is nothing like a good catastrophe” The Out of the
Ashes lecture series is generously supported by Sean and Sarah
Reynolds. Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/